


the little things

by SmittyJaws



Series: 50 ways to say "I love you" [4]
Category: Led Zeppelin
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24343627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmittyJaws/pseuds/SmittyJaws
Summary: Prompt from50 Wordless Ways to Say “I Love You”11. Telling them a dumb joke just to see their smile.18. Sharing a soft smile across a crowded room.21. Sharing your umbrella with them in the rain.
Relationships: John Paul Jones/Original Female Character(s)
Series: 50 ways to say "I love you" [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757476
Kudos: 8





	the little things

Jonesy’s not entirely sure how to know if he’s in love. He’s been interested in others, had enough crushes of his own growing up, but love is another chestnut entirely.

He’s always gotten along with Jay, even before Robert had decided to set them up on a date together. But somewhere along the line, his thoughts had drifted from purely platonic, to the first stirrings of romantic interest, to wherever he is now, and yet, for the life of him, he can’t pinpoint whether he’s actually in love or whether he only _thinks_ he’s in love.

He runs over events in his mind trying to find an answer; surely if he goes over things logically he’ll find what he’s looking for? He thinks back to approximately 6 months ago— it hadn’t been too long after their first date, and both of them had been suitably embarrassed at Robert proceeding to grill them for details the next time they’d all hung out together.

He’d kept pointing out that he’d struck gold pairing up Bonzo and Blanche, and surely they could see just how his intuition was correct here as well? Neither Jonesy nor Jay had said much on the matter, or for the rest of the night in general; too bothered by the undue amount of attention Robert (and by extension, everyone else) was placing on them.

But as they’d walked home to their own respective flats, it had started to rain, and awkwardness or not, Jonesy wasn’t about to sit back and watch Jay get soaked because she’d loaned her own umbrella to Blanche. He’d simply walked a little bit closer, held his umbrella slightly to the side, and he can still remember the shy grateful smile she’d given him when he’d done so.

Was that a sign? No, he thinks; it was too early then. Much too early to know. So he moves on to another memory, to a time slightly later on.

They’d been on a few dates at this point, but hadn’t given themselves a title yet. This current time wasn’t a date, though; they’d been hanging around at her place while Blanche was out, listening to music and looking over a couple of Jonesy’s scores together for fun.

They’d started out well, lightly bickering over the merits of classical composers and harmonic analysis, but somehow, it had devolved into a series of terrible music jokes, both of them trying to see who could keep a straight face longer.

He can’t remember exactly what joke it was that he’d made, but he knows it was utterly awful. What does stand out in his memory, though, is the way her mouth had twitched as she tried to fight it, before she’d given up and snickered at his terrible joke, grinning as she conceded defeat (“…this time,” she’d said, and Jonesy’s heart may or may not have done a small flip at the idea of it happening again).

Could that be it? Was his internal response a sign that he was in love? No, still too early, he thinks. You should _know_ , shouldn’t you? Shouldn’t it be more obvious than that?

It’s starting to bother him; why he’s so unsure about this. He likes Jay, he really does. But does he _love_ her?

He stays up late that night, troubled by his disquieting thoughts. He’s almost sure he won’t get any sleep that night, until another memory surfaces— this time of one from last week.

They’ve been dating for 2 months now, and sometimes he still can’t believe it; that he’s found someone who understands him so well. (And then Robert comes along and gloats about having been right all along and the warm feeling fades.)

His mind pulls up the memory of her warm smile, directed at him from her seat at a pub table while he was up on stage; the affection and pride he could see in her expression as she watched him play. He doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, playing a backdrop to Jimmy and Robert’s antics up front, but he won’t deny that there’s a little thrill he feels whenever he sees Jay in the audience or in the wings at any of Zeppelin’s shows; the thought that she’s here for _him_ , not any of the others.

He remembers the way he’d thought that he’d like to be the one to put that kind of look on her face for many times to come, and the particularly warm and pleasant feeling that he always gets when he spends time with her, and it hits him; he’s actually properly in love. Maybe it’s not about the bigger or more obvious moments, but small things like this, and if so, he’ll gladly continue chasing those moments for years to come.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also @smittyjaws on Tumblr!


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